Transceiver with plural space hopping phased array antennas and methods for use therewith

ABSTRACT

A wireless transceiver includes an antenna array that transmits an outbound RF signal containing outbound data to remote transceivers and that receives an inbound RF signal containing inbound data from the remote RF transceivers, wherein the antenna array is configurable based on a control signal. An antenna configuration controller generates the control signal to configure the antenna array to hop among a plurality of radiation patterns based on a hopping sequence. An RF transceiver section generates the outbound RF signal based on the outbound data and that generates the inbound data based on the inbound RF signal. In one configuration, a switching section selectively couples a selected one of the antennas in the array to the RF transceiver section, based on the control signal. In another configuration, the RF transceiver section includes an RF section for each antenna in the array.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS

The present U.S. Utility Patent Application claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. §120, as a continuation, to U.S. Utility patent applicationSer. No. 12/428,185, entitled TRANSCEIVER WITH PLURAL SPACE HOPPINGPHASED ARRAY ANTENNAS AND METHODS FOR USE THEREWITH, filed on Apr. 22,2009 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,175,542, which is hereby incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety and made part of the present U.S.Utility Patent Application for all purposes.

The present application is related to the following U.S. patentapplications:

U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 12/428,169, entitledTRANSCEIVER WITH SPACE HOPPING PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA AND METHODS FOR USETHEREWITH, filed on Apr. 22, 2009 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,496;and

U.S. Utility patent application Ser. No. 12/428,156, entitledCOLLABORATIVE PAIRING TRANSCEIVER WITH SPACE HOPPING PHASED ARRAYANTENNA AND METHODS FOR USE THEREWITH, filed on Apr. 22, 2009 and issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,495;

the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to wireless communication and moreparticularly to antennas used to support wireless communications.

2. Description of Related Art

Communication systems are known to support wireless and wirelinecommunications between wireless and/or wireline communication devices.Such communication systems range from national and/or internationalcellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-homewireless networks to radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. Eachtype of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, inaccordance with one or more communication standards. For instance,wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one ormore standards including, but not limited to, RFID, IEEE 802.11,Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access(CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS),multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS), and/or variationsthereof.

Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wirelesscommunication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio,personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptopcomputer, home entertainment equipment, RFID reader, RFID tag, et ceteracommunicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communicationdevices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-pointcommunications), the participating wireless communication devices tunetheir receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g.,one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wirelesscommunication system) and communicate over that channel(s). For indirectwireless communications, each wireless communication device communicatesdirectly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services)and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-buildingwireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communicationconnection between the wireless communication devices, the associatedbase stations and/or associated access points communicate with eachother directly, via a system controller, via the public switch telephonenetwork, via the Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.

For each wireless communication device to participate in wirelesscommunications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiverand transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g.,a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communicationnetworks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the receiver is coupled to theantenna and includes a low noise amplifier, one or more intermediatefrequency stages, a filtering stage, and a data recovery stage. The lownoise amplifier receives inbound RF signals via the antenna andamplifies them. The one or more intermediate frequency stages mix theamplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations to convert theamplified RF signal into baseband signals or intermediate frequency (IF)signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signals or the IFsignals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce filteredsignals. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the filteredsignals in accordance with the particular wireless communicationstandard.

As is also known, the transmitter includes a data modulation stage, oneor more intermediate frequency stages, and a power amplifier. The datamodulation stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordancewith a particular wireless communication standard. The one or moreintermediate frequency stages mix the baseband signals with one or morelocal oscillations to produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifiesthe RF signals prior to transmission via an antenna.

Currently, wireless communications occur within licensed or unlicensedfrequency spectrums. For example, wireless local area network (WLAN)communications occur within the unlicensed Industrial, Scientific, andMedical (ISM) frequency spectrum of 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5 GHz. Whilethe ISM frequency spectrum is unlicensed there are restrictions onpower, modulation techniques, and antenna gain. Another unlicensedfrequency spectrum is the V-band of 55-64 GHz.

Different radio networks sometimes share the same spectrum. For example,Bluetooth transceivers and 802.11g transceivers may both be present in asingle area using the 2.4 GHz band. In the V-band, devices usingWireless HD (WiHD) and devices using the Next Generation MicrowaveSystem (NGMS) may be present in a single area. Transmissions by onedevice can cause interference with other devices that use the samefrequency band with the same area.

Other disadvantages of conventional approaches will be evident to oneskilled in the art when presented the disclosure that follows.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods of operationthat are further described in the following Brief Description of theDrawings, the Detailed Description of the Invention, and the claims.Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of the invention madewith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a wirelesscommunication system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a wirelesscommunication system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a wirelesstransceiver 125 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of various radiation patternsproduced by wireless transceiver 125 in accordance an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of various communication pathsproduced by wireless transceiver 125 in accordance an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a hopping sequence in accordancean embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a hopping sequence in accordanceanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a wirelesscommunication system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an interspersed hopping sequencein accordance an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless transceiver 125 andwireless transceiver 110 during a pairing procedure in accordance anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a further schematic block diagram of a wireless transceiver125 and wireless transceiver 110 during a pairing procedure inaccordance an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a data table inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of RF section 137and baseband section 139 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a wirelesstransceiver in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a wirelesstransceiver in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 21 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationsystem in accordance with the present invention. In particular acommunication system is shown that includes a communication device 10that communicates non-real-time data 24 and/or real-time data 26wirelessly with one or more other devices such as base station 18,non-real-time device 20, real-time device 22, and non-real-time and/orreal-time device 25. In addition, communication device 10 can alsooptionally communicate over a wireline connection with non-real-timedevice 12, real-time device 14, non-real-time and/or real-time device16.

In an embodiment of the present invention the wireline connection 28 canbe a wired connection that operates in accordance with one or morestandard protocols, such as a universal serial bus (USB), Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 488, IEEE 1394 (Firewire),Ethernet, small computer system interface (SCSI), serial or paralleladvanced technology attachment (SATA or PATA), or other wiredcommunication protocol, either standard or proprietary. The wirelessconnection can communicate in accordance with a wireless networkprotocol such as WiHD, NGMS, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, Ultra-Wideband(UWB), WIMAX, or other wireless network protocol, a wireless telephonydata/voice protocol such as Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data Rates forGlobal Evolution (EDGE), Personal Communication Services (PCS), or othermobile wireless protocol or other wireless communication protocol,either standard or proprietary. Further, the wireless communication pathcan include separate transmit and receive paths that use separatecarrier frequencies and/or separate frequency channels. Alternatively, asingle frequency or frequency channel can be used to bi-directionallycommunicate data to and from the communication device 10.

Communication device 10 can be a mobile phone such as a cellulartelephone, a personal digital assistant, game console, personalcomputer, laptop computer, or other device that performs one or morefunctions that include communication of voice and/or data via wirelineconnection 28 and/or the wireless communication path. In an embodimentof the present invention, the real-time and non-real-time devices 12, 1416, 18, 20, 22 and 25 can be personal computers, laptops, PDAs, mobilephones, such as cellular telephones, devices equipped with wirelesslocal area network or Bluetooth transceivers, FM tuners, TV tuners,digital cameras, digital camcorders, or other devices that eitherproduce, process or use audio, video signals or other data orcommunications.

In operation, the communication device includes one or more applicationsthat include voice communications such as standard telephonyapplications, voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications, localgaming, Internet gaming, email, instant messaging, multimedia messaging,web browsing, audio/video recording, audio/video playback, audio/videodownloading, playing of streaming audio/video, office applications suchas databases, spreadsheets, word processing, presentation creation andprocessing and other voice and data applications. In conjunction withthese applications, the real-time data 26 includes voice, audio, videoand multimedia applications including Internet gaming, etc. Thenon-real-time data 24 includes text messaging, email, web browsing, fileuploading and downloading, etc.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the communication device 10includes a wireless transceiver that includes one or more features orfunctions of the present invention. Such wireless transceivers shall bedescribed in greater detail in association with FIGS. 3-21 that follow.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of anothercommunication system in accordance with the present invention. Inparticular, FIG. 2 presents a communication system that includes manycommon elements of FIG. 1 that are referred to by common referencenumerals. Communication device 30 is similar to communication device 10and is capable of any of the applications, functions and featuresattributed to communication device 10, as discussed in conjunction withFIG. 1. However, communication device 30 includes two separate wirelesstransceivers for communicating, contemporaneously, via two or morewireless communication protocols with data device 32 and/or data basestation 34 via RF data 40 and voice base station 36 and/or voice device38 via RF voice signals 42.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a wirelesstransceiver 125 in accordance with the present invention. In particular,a wireless transceiver 125 is shown that is included in a wirelessdevice 101, such as communication device 10 or 30 or other wirelessdevice. Wireless transceiver includes phased array antenna 100 thattransmits an outbound RF signal 170 containing outbound data 162 to oneor more remote transceivers such as wireless device 103 having acomplementary transceiver 110. In addition, phased array antenna 100receives an inbound RF signal 152 containing inbound data 160 from thewireless device 103. The phased array antenna 100 is configurable basedon control signals 106 to a plurality of different radiation patterns.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the phased array antenna 100includes multiple individual antenna elements. Examples of suchindividual antenna elements include monopole or dipole antennas,three-dimensional in-air helix antenna, aperture antennas of arectangular shape, horn shaped, etc.; dipole antennas having a conicalshape, a cylinder shape, an elliptical shape, etc.; and reflectorantennas having a plane reflector, a corner reflector, or a parabolicreflector; meandering pattern or a micro strip configuration. Inaddition, phased array antenna 100 includes a control matrix thatcontrols the phase and amplitude of the signals to and from eachindividual antenna element in order to adjust the radiation pattern ofthe array based on an antenna weight vector. The phased array antenna100 can be tuned for operation in the V-band of 55-64 GHz or othermillimeter wave frequency band or other portion of the RF spectrum suchas a 900 MHz band, 2.4 GHz band or 5 GHz band.

The antenna configuration controller 104 generates the control signals106 to configure the phased array antenna 100 to hop among the pluralityof radiation patterns based on a hopping sequence. The RF transceiversection 102 generates a transmit signal 155 based on the outbound data162 that is transmitted as outbound RF signal 170. In addition, the RFtransceiver section 102 generates the inbound data 160 from a receivedsignal 153 generated by phased array antenna 100 in response to theinbound RF signal 152. The phased array antenna 100 can include a singlearray, separate arrays of antennas for transmission and reception and/orseparate arrays that are physically separated.

Configuration controller 104 can be implemented using a sharedprocessing device, individual processing devices, or a plurality ofprocessing devices and may further include memory. Such a processingdevice may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digital signalprocessor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmablegate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry,analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulatessignals (analog and/or digital) based on operational instructions. Thememory may be a single memory device or a plurality of memory devices.Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory,volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory,flash memory, and/or any device that stores digital information. Notethat when the configuration controller 104 implements one or more of itsfunctions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry,and/or logic circuitry, the memory storing the corresponding operationalinstructions is embedded with the circuitry comprising the statemachine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the configuration controller104 contains a table of control signals 106 that correspond to aplurality of candidate radiation patterns. In operation, a particularradiation pattern is generated for the phased array antenna 100 by theconfiguration controller 104 generating the corresponding controlsignals 106, and the phased array antenna 100 adjusting gain and phaseparameters for each antenna in the array in response thereto. In anembodiment of the present invention, the control signals 106 include aparticular value of the antenna weight vector that is used by the phasedarray antenna 100 to adjust the antenna configuration to the desiredradiation pattern. Alternatively, the control signals 106 can includeany other signal that indicates the desired radiation pattern.

As will be discussed further in conjunction with FIGS. 10-12,configuration controller 104 can select a plurality of selectedradiation patterns based on quality signals 108 from RF transceiversection 102. In particular, quality signals 108, such as a signalstrength, a signal to noise ratio, a signal to noise and interferenceratio, a bit error rate, a packet error rate and a retransmission rate,can be generated based on the transmission or reception characteristicsbetween the wireless transceiver 125 and one or more remote transceiverssuch as transceiver 110. Configuration controller 104 generates qualitydata corresponding to a particular radiation pattern that indicates howwell this particular radiation pattern will perform in communicatingwith a corresponding transceiver 110. Candidate radiation patterns canbe selected or eliminated by comparing the quality data to a qualitythreshold. In this fashion, radiation patterns for phased array antenna100 that correspond to good communication paths can be identified andselected to be included in the hopping sequence.

Further, the configuration controller 104 can update the radiationpatterns included in the hopping sequence by continually monitoring thequality data. In particular, the configuration controller 104 cangenerate aggregate quality data corresponding to multiple occurrences ofeach of the of radiation patterns. When each radiation pattern occurs inthe hopping sequence, the aggregate quality data for that particularradiation pattern can be updated based on a windowing approach, anexponentially weighted moving average, a low pass filter or othersmoothing technique. If the aggregate quality data falls below thequality threshold for a particular radiation pattern, the configurationcontroller 104 can update the radiation patterns used in the hoppingsequence by removing that radiation pattern. In this fashion, theselection of radiation patterns can be tolerant of temporary qualitylapses caused by transient conditions, however, consistentlyunderperforming radiation patterns can be removed.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of various radiation patternsproduced by wireless transceiver 125 in accordance an embodiment of thepresent invention. In this example, the phased array antenna 100 caninclude 30-40 individual antenna elements and can produce steerable beamhaving a beamwidth of 1 to 3 degrees, as well as other beam patternsincluding an omnidirectional radiation pattern. Radiation patterns 50and 52 present examples of two such narrow beam radiation patterns,while radiation pattern 54 represents a substantially omnidirectionalpattern. While these radiation patterns are presented in two dimensions,it should be recognized that the radiation patterns 50 and 52 arerepresentative of possible radiation patterns in any direction in threedimensional space. Radiation pattern 54 can be a three-dimensionalomnidirectional pattern or a pattern that is omnidirectional orsubstantially omnidirectional about one or more axes.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of various communication pathsproduced by wireless transceiver 125 in accordance an embodiment of thepresent invention. In particular, paths 60, 62 and 64 represent threecommunication paths produced by the phased array antenna 100 hoppingamong the plurality of radiation patterns. In this particular case,transceiver 110 is implemented in a similar fashion to transceiver 125and also includes a phased array antenna, such as phased array antenna100. As transceiver 125 changes antenna configurations to implement adifferent radiation pattern for its next hop, transceiver 110 changesantenna configurations to implement a complementary radiation pattern tocreate a communication path between the two transceivers.

For example, in a first hop in the hop sequence, transceivers 125 and110 steer their antenna beams to produce communication path 60 thatincludes a reflection off of object 66, such as a ceiling, wall, floor,article of furniture or other object. In a second hop in the hopsequence, transceivers 125 and 110 steer their antenna beams to producea line of sight path 62. In a third hop in the hop sequence,transceivers 125 and 110 steer their antenna beams to producecommunication path 64 that includes a reflection off of objects 66 and68.

While these communications paths are presented in two dimensions, itshould be recognized that the paths 60, 62 and 64 are representative ofpossible communication paths in any direction in three dimensionalspace.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a hopping sequence in accordancean embodiment of the present invention. In particular, a hoppingsequence 70 is shown for a phased array antenna such as phased arrayantenna 100. In this example, the hopping sequence includes N antennaconfiguration corresponding to N different communication paths. Theorder of these paths is shared between the transceivers 110 and 125 suchthat the radiation patterns of the phased array antennas are aligned toeither end of each corresponding communication path so that hopping in asequence of antenna configurations results in corresponding radiationpatterns that implement a sequence of different communication pathsbetween the transceivers as discussed in conjunction with FIG. 5. Inparticular, the timing and ordering of the hopping sequence can becoordinated between configuration controllers 104 of the transceivers110 and 125 via control signaling to synchronize the change to eachsuccessive next antenna configuration and each corresponding nextcommunication path. As shown, the hopping sequence cycles through eachof the antenna configurations in a particular order. This sequencerepeats itself, however, if a particular antenna configuration isrejected due to low quality as discussed in conjunction with FIG. 3, itcan be removed from the sequence.

The transmission of data between transceivers 110 and 125, over time, isspread over each of the N communication paths. The use ofacknowledgement protocols, retransmission or other error correctiontechniques in conjunction with the spatial reuse provided by the hoppingsequence allows communications between transceivers 110 and 125 to morereliable in the presence of interference, path obstructions, etc.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a hopping sequence in accordanceanother embodiment of the present invention. While FIG. 6 presented acyclic hopping sequence other hopping sequences are likewise possible.In the example shown in hopping sequence 72, a pseudorandom hoppingsequence is used. As discussed in conjunction with FIG. 6, the timingand ordering of the hopping sequence can be coordinated between thetransceivers 110 and 125 via control signaling to synchronize the changeto each successive next antenna configuration and each correspondingnext communication path. In this embodiment, a seed used to generate thepseudorandom sequence can be shared between the configurationcontrollers 104 of transceivers 110 and 125 to facilitate thesynchronization of hopping sequence implemented by these devices.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a wirelesscommunication system in accordance with the present invention. In thisembodiment, a single transceiver 125 can communicate with two or moreremote transceivers 110 and 110′ via space hopping. In this embodiment,the hopping sequence employed by transceiver 125 includes a plurality ofindividual hopping sequences each corresponding to one of the pluralityof remote transceivers 110. In this fashion, transceiver 125 can carryon communications in accordance with the present inventioncontemporaneously with two or more devices.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an interspersed hopping sequencein accordance an embodiment of the present invention. In this example,transceiver 125 communicates with two remote transceivers 110 and 110′.A hopping sequence 74 is established for communications betweentransceiver 125 and transceiver 110 with A1, A2, A3, . . . representingdifferent antenna configurations corresponding to radiation patternsthat implement communication paths between these two devices. Further,hopping sequence 76 is established for communications betweentransceiver 125 and transceiver 110′ with B1, B2, B3, . . . representingdifferent antenna configurations corresponding to radiation patternsthat implement communication paths between this device pair.

Transceiver 125 implements an interspersed hopping sequence 77 thatalternates hops between antenna configurations A1, A2, A3 . . . thatimplement communication paths with transceiver 110 and antennaconfigurations B1, B2, B3 . . . that implement communication paths withtransceiver 110′. As shown, transceivers 110 and 110′ implementcomplementary hopping sequences 78 and 79 with “x” representing anon-use period for that device. While the example shown intersperses thetwo hopping sequences 74 and 76 via simple interleaving, otherinterspersals are likewise possible, particularly if the data ratesbetween devices are different.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless transceiver 125 andwireless transceiver 110 during a pairing procedure in accordance anembodiment of the present invention. In order to initialize the spatialhopping sequence used between two wireless transceivers, such aswireless transceivers 110 and 125, the particular set of radiationpatterns to be used by each device and the association between each ofthe radiation patterns needs to be determined. In particular, acollaborative pairing procedure is employed to determine selectedradiation patterns for each device in such a fashion that a radiationpattern for one device is associated with a reciprocal radiation patternfor the other device. Coordination of the various activities of thepairing procedure between the configuration controllers 104 of the twodevices communicating via control signaling effectuated viaomnidirectional antenna configurations for one or both devices.

The pairing procedure includes a procedure that configures the radiationpatterns for the wireless transceiver 125. In this portion of thepairing procedure, the configuration controller 104 of transceiver 110generates controls signals 106 to establish an omnidirectional orsubstantially omnidirectional radiation pattern 82. The configurationcontroller 104 of wireless transceiver 125 generates control signals 106to iteratively test each of a plurality of candidate radiation patterns80. The configuration controller 104 generates quality data based onquality signals 108 for each of the candidate radiation patterns 80 andselects candidate radiation patterns for use in the hopping sequencewhen the quality data for that candidate radiation pattern comparesfavorably to a quality threshold. In summary, the configurationcontroller 104 selects candidate radiation patterns for inclusion in thehopping sequence when their transmission/reception characteristicsindicate that an acceptable communication path to transceiver 110 existsalong the axis of that candidate radiation pattern.

Other, more advanced criteria can also be used in the selection ofradiation patterns for inclusion in the hopping sequence. For example,the quality threshold process described above can be used to select agroup of radiation patterns that is further narrowed based on othercriteria. For instance, a hopping sequence of fixed size N may bedesired and the configuration control 104 could select the best Nradiation patterns from the group selected based on the qualitythreshold. In another example, the M radiation patterns with the lowesttransmit power can be selected based on the quality threshold. In afurther example, radiation patterns with a transmit power higher than adesired transmit power threshold can be eliminated. Other criteria canlikewise be employed by configuration controller 104 to further arriveupon a final set of radiation patterns for transceiver 125.

While the candidate radiation patterns 80 are presented in twodimensions, it should be recognized that the candidate radiationpatterns 80 are representative of possible radiation patterns in anydirection in three dimensional space.

FIG. 11 is a further schematic block diagram of a wireless transceiver125 and wireless transceiver 110 during a pairing procedure inaccordance an embodiment of the present invention. After transceiver 125has selected a set of radiation patterns to be included in the hoppingsequence, the pairing procedure continues by determining a set ofreciprocal radiation patterns for wireless transceiver 110. In thisportion of the pairing procedure, the configuration controller 104 oftransceiver 125 generates controls signals 106 to select a first one ofthe selected radiation patterns 86 corresponding to path 85. Theconfiguration controller 104 of wireless transceiver 110 generatescontrol signals 106 to iteratively test each of a plurality of candidateradiation patterns 84. The configuration controller 104 generatesquality data based on quality signals 108 for each of the candidateradiation patterns 84 and selects a reciprocal radiation pattern for usein conjunction with radiation pattern 86 as the candidate radiationpattern that generates the most favorable value of the quality data.Once the first reciprocal radiation patterns is determined, the processis repeated by continuing to cycle through each of the other radiationpatterns selected by transceiver 125 so that reciprocal radiationpatterns for wireless transceiver 110 can be determined in a similarfashion.

While the candidate radiation patterns 84 and radiation pattern 86 andpath 85 are presented in two dimensions, it should be recognized thatthe candidate radiation patterns 84, radiation pattern 86 and path 85are representative of possible radiation patterns and paths in anydirection in three dimensional space.

It should also be noted that while various functions in the pairingprocedure performed by wireless transceiver 125 and 110 can be reversedin other embodiments.

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a data table inaccordance with the present invention. In particular a data table 90 isshown for use in conjunction with a configuration controller, such asconfiguration controller 104. In particular, control signal data CS001,CS002, CS003, CS004 are stored in association with correspondingradiation patterns 001, 002, 003, 004, etc. The data table 90 can storedata corresponding to all possible radiation patterns such as allpossible candidate radiation patterns. To implement a particularradiation pattern, such as pattern 002, the configuration controller canlookup the corresponding control signal data, in this case CS002, togenerate the control signals 106. As shown, the data table 90 includesan indicator of whether a particular candidate radiation pattern hasbeen selected for inclusion in the hopping sequence or not. During thepairing procedure, the configuration controller can cycle through eachof the radiation patterns in the data table 90 to select the set ofradiation patterns to include in the hopping sequence and/or to identifythe reciprocal set of radiation patterns corresponding to radiationpatterns of remote transceivers.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention. In particular, a portion of acollaborative pairing procedure between a first and second transceiveris shown. In step 200, a first transceiver is set to an omnidirectionalmode. In step 202, candidate radiation patterns are tested for thesecond transceiver. In step 204, radiation patterns are selected for thesecond transceiver, based on the test results.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention. In particular a method ispresented for use in association with the method presented inconjunction with FIG. 13. In particular, after the method of FIG. 13 isperformed, the second transceiver is set to a first selected radiationpattern, as shown in step 210. In step 212, the candidate radiationpatterns for the first transceiver are tested to identify a reciprocalradiation pattern for the first transceiver. In step 214, the process isrepeated for all other selected radiation patterns of the secondtransceiver to identify corresponding reciprocal radiation patterns ofthe first transceiver.

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of RF section 137and baseband section 139 in accordance with the present invention. Inparticular an RF section 137 and baseband section 139 are shown thatimplement an RF transceiver section such as RF transceiver section 102.The RF section 137 includes an RF front end 140, a down conversionmodule 142, radio transmitter front end 150 and up conversion module148. The baseband section 139 includes a receiver processing module 144and transmitter processing module 146.

As shown, radio transmitter front end 150 generates the transmit signal155 to the phased array antenna 100 to produce outbound RF signal 170.RF front end 140 receives received signal 153 generated by phased arrayantenna 100 based on inbound RF signal 152.

In operation, the transmitter processing module 146 processes theoutbound data 162 in accordance with a particular wireless communicationstandard (e.g., WiHD, NGMS, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, RFID, GSM, CDMA, etcetera) to produce baseband or low intermediate frequency (IF) transmit(TX) signals 164. The baseband or low IF TX signals 164 may be digitalbaseband signals (e.g., have a zero IF) or digital low IF signals, wherethe low IF typically will be in a frequency range of one hundredkilohertz to a few megahertz. Note that the processing performed by thetransmitter processing module 146 includes, but is not limited to,scrambling, encoding, puncturing, mapping, modulation, and/or digitalbaseband to IF conversion. Further note that the transmitter processingmodule 146 may be implemented using a shared processing device,individual processing devices, or a plurality of processing devices andmay further include memory. Such a processing device may be amicroprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor,microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array,programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals(analog and/or digital) based on operational instructions. The memorymay be a single memory device or a plurality of memory devices. Such amemory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory, flashmemory, and/or any device that stores digital information. Note thatwhen the processing module 146 implements one or more of its functionsvia a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logiccircuitry, the memory storing the corresponding operational instructionsis embedded with the circuitry comprising the state machine, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.

The up conversion module 148 includes a digital-to-analog conversion(DAC) module, a filtering and/or gain module, and a mixing section. TheDAC module converts the baseband or low IF TX signals 164 from thedigital domain to the analog domain. The filtering and/or gain modulefilters and/or adjusts the gain of the analog signals prior to providingit to the mixing section. The mixing section converts the analogbaseband or low IF signals into up converted signals 166 based on atransmitter local oscillation.

The radio transmitter front end 150 includes a power amplifier and mayalso include a transmit filter module. The power amplifier amplifies theup converted signals 166 to produce outbound RF signals 170, which maybe filtered by the transmitter filter module, if included.

The RF front-end 140 includes a low noise amplifier with optionalfiltration that produces a desired RF signal 154 in response to receivedsignal 153. The RF front end 140 further includes a signal leveldetector or other circuit that generates a quality signal 108 thatindicates a received signal strength, signal to noise ratio, signal tonoise and interference ratio or other receiver quality indication.

The down conversion module 142 includes a mixing section, an analog todigital conversion (ADC) module, and may also include a filtering and/orgain module. The mixing section converts the desired RF signal 154 intoa down converted signal 156 that is based on a receiver localoscillation, such as an analog baseband or low IF signal. The ADC moduleconverts the analog baseband or low IF signal into a digital baseband orlow IF signal. The filtering and/or gain module high pass and/or lowpass filters the digital baseband or low IF signal to produce a basebandor low IF signal 156. Note that the ordering of the ADC module andfiltering and/or gain module may be switched, such that the filteringand/or gain module is an analog module.

The receiver processing module 144 processes the baseband or low IFsignal 156 in accordance with a particular wireless communicationprotocol (e.g., WiHD, NGMS, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, RFID, GSM, CDMA, etcetera) to produce inbound data 160. The processing performed by thereceiver processing module 144 can include, but is not limited to,digital intermediate frequency to baseband conversion, demodulation,demapping, depuncturing, decoding, and/or descrambling. Receiverprocessing module 144 further generates quality signal 108 based on abit error rate, a packet error rate, a retransmission rate or otherreceiver quality indication that is based on either the reception ofdata from a remote station or that is analyzed by a remote transceiverand included in data received from that remote station. In one example,the receiver processing module 144 can generate quality data based onits own observations of bit error rate, a packet error rate, aretransmission rate, etc. In a further example, the receiver processingmodule 144 can receive control data from a remote transceiver thatincludes that remote transceiver's observations of bit error rate, apacket error rate, a retransmission rate, signal strength, signal tonoise ratio, signal to noise and interference ratio, or other qualitymetrics.

Note that the receiver processing module 144 may be implemented using ashared processing device, individual processing devices, or a pluralityof processing devices and may further include memory. Such a processingdevice may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digital signalprocessor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmablegate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry,analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulatessignals (analog and/or digital) based on operational instructions. Thememory may be a single memory device or a plurality of memory devices.Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random access memory,volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamic memory,flash memory, and/or any device that stores digital information. Notethat when the receiver processing module 144 implements one or more ofits functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry,and/or logic circuitry, the memory storing the corresponding operationalinstructions is embedded with the circuitry comprising the statemachine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a wirelesstransceiver in accordance with the present invention. In particular,another embodiment of a wireless transceiver, such as wirelesstransceiver 125 is presented where phased array antenna 100 includes twoor more separate phase array antennas 99 and 99′. In this fashion, thewireless transceiver 125 can hop between antenna configurations from twoor more different arrays. The RF transceiver section includes aplurality of RF sections 137 and a common baseband section 139′ thatprocesses inbound data 160 and outbound data 162 for communication withvia phased array antenna 99, or 99′ . . . .

In one example, hops in the hop sequence can alternate between theplurality of antenna arrays 99, 99′, . . . . Alternatively, radiationpatterns in the hop sequence can be chosen pseudorandomly to among thesuperset of all selected radiation patterns from each of the phasedarray antennas 99, 99′, . . . . In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the phased array antennas 99 and 99′ are configured to bespatially diverse from one another, such as be spaced apart, located ondifferent sides or surfaces of a wireless device 101, etc. In thisfashion, the spatial hopping implemented by wireless transceiver 125 canbe even more robust.

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of a wirelesstransceiver in accordance with the present invention. Another embodimentof wireless transceiver 125 is shown where phased array antenna 100includes two separate phase array antennas 99 and 99′. In particular,this embodiment functions in a similar fashion to the embodiment of FIG.16, however, a single RF section 137 is alternatively coupled, viaswitching section 135 to a selected one of the phased array antennas 99,99′ . . . , based on which phased array antenna is in use. Configurationcontroller 104 generates an additional control signal 106 that commandsthe switching section 135 to couple the RF section 137 to theappropriate phased array antenna 99, 99′, . . . , during the pairingprocedure, and as antenna arrays are changed in the hopping sequence.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention. In particular, a method ispresented for use in conjunction with one or more of the functions andfeatures presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-17. In step 400, anoutbound RF signal containing outbound data is transmitted to at leastone remote transceiver via at least one phased array antenna. In step402, an inbound RF signal containing inbound data is received from theat least one remote RF transceiver, via the at least one phased arrayantenna. In step 404, the phased array antenna is configured to hopamong a plurality of radiation patterns based on a hopping sequence. Instep 406, the outbound RF signal is generated based on the outbounddata. In step 408, the inbound data is generated based on the inbound RFsignal.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the hopping sequence is basedon a pseudorandom sequence. The at least one phased array antenna canincludes a plurality of individual antenna arrays that are spatiallydiverse and the plurality of radiation patterns can include radiationpatterns from each of the plurality of individual antenna arrays. Theoutbound RF signal and the inbound RF signal can be within a millimeterwave frequency band. The outbound data and the inbound data can beformatted in accordance with at least one of: a wireless high definitioncommunication standard; and a next generation millimeter wavecommunication standard.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention. In particular, a method ispresented for use in conjunction with one or more of the functions andfeatures presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-18. In step 410, qualitydata is generated corresponding to each of the plurality of radiationpatterns. In step 412, the plurality of radiation patterns are updatedbased on the quality data.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the quality data can begenerated based on at least one of: a signal strength, a signal to noiseratio, a signal to noise and interference ratio, a bit error rate, apacket error rate and a retransmission rate. The quality datacorresponding to each of the plurality of radiation patterns isgenerated based on an aggregation of multiple hops for each of theplurality of radiation patterns. Step 412 can include removing one ofthe plurality of the radiation patterns when the quality data comparesunfavorably to a quality threshold.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention. In particular, a method ispresented for use in conjunction with one or more of the functions andfeatures presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-19. In step 420, thehopping sequence is generated by interspersing a plurality of individualhopping sequences, each of the plurality of individual hopping sequencescorresponding to one of a plurality of remote transceivers.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart representation of an embodiment of a method inaccordance with the present invention. In particular, a method ispresented for use in conjunction with one or more of the functions andfeatures presented in conjunction with FIGS. 1-20. In step 430, anoutbound RF signal containing outbound data is transmitted to a remotetransceiver via at least one phased array antenna. In step 432, aninbound RF signal containing inbound data is received from the remote RFtransceiver, via the at least one phased array antenna. In step 434, aplurality of selected radiation patterns are collaboratively selectedbetween the wireless transceiver and the remote transceiver inaccordance with a pairing procedure. In step 436, the phased arrayantenna is configured to hop among the plurality of selected radiationpatterns based on a hopping sequence. In step 438, the outbound RFsignal is generated based on the outbound data. In step 440, the inbounddata is generated based on the inbound RF signal.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the pairing procedureincludes: generating quality data corresponding to each of a pluralityof candidate radiation patterns during a wireless transceiverconfiguration period; and selecting the plurality of selected radiationpatterns from the plurality of candidate radiation patterns, based onthe quality data. Step 434 can include selecting one of the plurality ofcandidate radiation patterns as a corresponding one of the plurality ofselected radiation patterns when the quality data compares favorably toa quality threshold. Generating the quality data can include generatingthe quality data based on at least one of: a signal strength, a signalto noise ratio, a signal to noise and interference ratio, a bit errorrate, a packet error rate and a retransmission rate. Generating thequality data can include generating the quality data based on theinbound RF signal and wherein the inbound RF signal is transmittedomnidirectionally by the remote transceiver during a portion of thepairing procedure.

The pairing procedure can include cycling through each of the pluralityof selected radiation patterns during a reciprocal radiation patternselection by the remote transceiver. The pairing procedure can includeconfiguring the phased array antenna to an omnidirectional radiationpattern during a portion of the pairing procedure. The at least onephased array antenna can include a plurality of individual antennaarrays that are spatially diverse and the plurality of radiationpatterns can include radiation patterns from each of the plurality ofindividual antenna arrays. The outbound RF signal and the inbound RFsignal can be within a millimeter wave frequency band. The outbound dataand the inbound data can be formatted in accordance with at least oneof: a wireless high definition communication standard; and a nextgeneration millimeter wave communication standard.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding termand/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted toleranceranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to,but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit processvariations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermalnoise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a fewpercent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, theterm(s) “coupled to” and/or “coupling” and/or includes direct couplingbetween items and/or indirect coupling between items via an interveningitem (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, a component, anelement, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for indirect coupling, theintervening item does not modify the information of a signal but mayadjust its current level, voltage level, and/or power level. As mayfurther be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where one element iscoupled to another element by inference) includes direct and indirectcoupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”. As mayeven further be used herein, the term “operable to” indicates that anitem includes one or more of power connections, input(s), output(s),etc., to perform one or more its corresponding functions and may furtherinclude inferred coupling to one or more other items. As may stillfurther be used herein, the term “associated with”, includes directand/or indirect coupling of separate items and/or one item beingembedded within another item. As may be used herein, the term “comparesfavorably”, indicates that a comparison between two or more items,signals, etc., provides a desired relationship. For example, when thedesired relationship is that signal 1 has a greater magnitude thansignal 2, a favorable comparison may be achieved when the magnitude ofsignal 1 is greater than that of signal 2 or when the magnitude ofsignal 2 is less than that of signal 1.

The present invention has also been described above with the aid ofmethod steps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention.

The present invention has been described above with the aid offunctional building blocks illustrating the performance of certainsignificant functions. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined for convenience of description.Alternate boundaries could be defined as long as the certain significantfunctions are appropriately performed. Similarly, flow diagram blocksmay also have been arbitrarily defined herein to illustrate certainsignificant functionality. To the extent used, the flow diagram blockboundaries and sequence could have been defined otherwise and stillperform the certain significant functionality. Such alternatedefinitions of both functional building blocks and flow diagram blocksand sequences are thus within the scope and spirit of the claimedinvention. One of average skill in the art will also recognize that thefunctional building blocks, and other illustrative blocks, modules andcomponents herein, can be implemented as illustrated or by discretecomponents, application specific integrated circuits, processorsexecuting appropriate software and the like or any combination thereof.

The present invention has been described in conjunction with variousillustrative embodiments that include many optional functions andfeatures. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that thedisclosed invention may be modified in numerous ways, the functions andfeatures of these embodiments can be combined in other embodiments notexpressly shown, and may assume many embodiments other than thepreferred forms specifically set out and described above. Accordingly,it is intended by the appended claims to cover all modifications of theinvention which fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A wireless transceiver comprising: an array of antennas, thattransmits an outbound RF signal containing outbound data to at least oneremote transceiver and that receives an inbound RF signal containinginbound data from the at least one remote transceiver, wherein the arrayof antennas is configurable based on a control signal; an antennaconfiguration controller, coupled to the array of antennas, thatgenerates the control signal to configure the array of antennas to hopamong a plurality of radiation patterns based on a hopping sequence; andan RF transceiver section, coupled to the array of antennas, thatgenerates the outbound RF signal based on the outbound data and thatgenerates the inbound data based on the inbound RF signal, wherein theRF transceiver section includes a plurality of RF sections and abaseband section, and wherein each of the plurality of RF sectionscouples a corresponding antenna of the array of antennas to the basebandsection.
 2. The wireless transceiver of claim 1 wherein the antennaconfiguration controller receives quality data corresponding to each ofthe plurality of radiation patterns and updates the plurality ofradiation patterns based on the quality data.
 3. The wirelesstransceiver of claim 2 wherein the antenna configuration controllerupdates the plurality of radiation patterns by removing one of theplurality of the radiation patterns when the quality data correspondingto the one of the plurality of radiation patterns compares unfavorablyto a quality threshold.
 4. The wireless transceiver of claim 2 whereinthe quality data is based on at least one of: a signal strength, asignal to noise ratio, a signal to noise and interference ratio, a biterror rate, a packet error rate and a retransmission rate.
 5. Thewireless transceiver of claim 2 wherein the quality data correspondingto each of the plurality of radiation patterns is based on anaggregation of multiple hops for each of the plurality of radiationpatterns.
 6. The wireless transceiver of claim 1 wherein the hoppingsequence is based on a pseudorandom sequence.
 7. The wirelesstransceiver of claim 1 wherein the at least one remote transceiverincludes a plurality of remote transceivers and the hopping sequenceincludes a plurality of individual hopping sequences each correspondingto one of the plurality of remote transceivers.
 8. The wirelesstransceiver of claim 1 wherein the array of antennas include at leasttwo spatially diverse antenna arrays.
 9. The wireless transceiver ofclaim 1 wherein the outbound RF signal and the inbound RF signal arewithin a millimeter wave frequency band.
 10. The wireless transceiver ofclaim 1 wherein the outbound data and the inbound data are formatted inaccordance with at least one of: a wireless high definitioncommunication standard; and a next generation millimeter wavecommunication standard.
 11. A wireless transceiver comprising: an arrayof antennas, that transmit an outbound RF signal containing outbounddata to at least one remote transceiver and that receives an inbound RFsignal containing inbound data from the at least one remote transceiver,wherein the array of antennas is configurable based on a control signal;an antenna configuration controller, coupled to the array of antennas,that generates the control signal to configure the array of antennas tohop among a plurality of radiation patterns based on a hopping sequence;and a switching section, coupled to the array of antennas; and an RFtransceiver section, coupled to the switching section, that generatesthe outbound RF signal based on the outbound data and that generates theinbound data based on the inbound RF signal; wherein the switchingsection selectively couples a selected antenna of the array of antennasto the RF transceiver section, based on the control signal.
 12. Thewireless transceiver of claim 11 wherein the antenna configurationcontroller receives quality data corresponding to each of the pluralityof radiation patterns and updates the plurality of radiation patternsbased on the quality data.
 13. The wireless transceiver of claim 12wherein the antenna configuration controller updates the plurality ofradiation patterns by removing one of the plurality of the radiationpatterns when the quality data corresponding to the one of the pluralityof radiation patterns compares unfavorably to a quality threshold. 14.The wireless transceiver of claim 12 wherein the quality data is basedon at least one of: a signal strength, a signal to noise ratio, a signalto noise and interference ratio, a bit error rate, a packet error rateand a retransmission rate.
 15. The wireless transceiver of claim 11wherein the antenna configuration controller generates quality datacorresponding to each of the plurality of radiation patterns based on anaggregation of multiple hops for each of the plurality of radiationpatterns.
 16. The wireless transceiver of claim 11 wherein the hoppingsequence is based on a pseudorandom sequence.
 17. The wirelesstransceiver of claim 11 wherein the at least one remote transceiverincludes a plurality of remote transceivers and the hopping sequenceincludes a plurality of individual hopping sequences each correspondingto one of the plurality of remote transceivers.
 18. The wirelesstransceiver of claim 11 wherein the array of antennas include at leasttwo spatially diverse antenna arrays.
 19. The wireless transceiver ofclaim 11 wherein the outbound RF signal and the inbound RF signal arewithin a millimeter wave frequency band.
 20. A wireless transceivercomprising: an antenna configuration controller, coupled to an array ofantennas, that generates a control signal to configure the array ofantennas to hop among a plurality of radiation patterns based on ahopping sequence; and an RF transceiver section, coupled to the array ofantennas, that generates an outbound RF signal based on outbound dataand that generates inbound data based on an inbound RF signal, whereinthe RF transceiver section includes a plurality of RF sections and atleast one baseband section, and wherein each of the plurality of RFsections couples a corresponding antenna of the array of antennas to theat least one baseband section.